Health Tips-17: Nuts and Asthma Risk

London: Pregnant who eat nuts or nut products like peanut butter daily raise the risk of their children developing asthma by 50%, Dutch researchers said on Tuesday.

The study also showed that moderate amounts did not seem to have an effect, meaning it is too soon to say whether pregnant women should give up nuts because they contain many important nutrients and healthy fats a developing foetus needs.

“We were the first to find these strong effects on asthma symptoms,” said Saskia Willers, an epidemiologist at Utrecht University, who led the study. “But until we are certain we don’t want to restrict them from the diet.”

In some countries as many as 30% of children develop asthma, according to the World Health Organisation. Scientists do not know why some children develop asthma; some believe allergies can trigger the disease that causes a narrowing of the bronchial tubes. – Reuters.

Courtesy: The Hindu, Madurai, July 16, 2008

Articles on “Asthma” and “Allergy” from Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asthma

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allergies

Grateful thanks to Reuters, The Hindu and Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.